Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
IT WAS high drama yesterday morning at the Esso Service Station on Half-Way Tree Road, St. Andrew, where three persons, including a 35-year-old special constable, were shot during a robbery.
One of the alleged robbers, 17-year-old Jermaine Johnson, was shot and killed during the exchange of gunfire. While the policeman's name has been withheld for security reasons, the third person has been identified as Linval Lennon, a Gleaner newspaper delivery contractor.
The injured policeman, who has been a member of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) for the past nine years, became the second law enforcement officer to have been shot by gunmen over the past 48 hours.
SHOT IN THE LEG
On Tuesday, Sergeant Donald Burke, formerly of the Mobile Reserve Unit was in the process of leaving a store at the Spanish Village Plaza, St. Catherine, when he was attacked by two men. He was shot in the leg during a struggle with one of his attackers. Sgt. Burke later died at the Spanish Town Hospital.
In yesterday's incident, the special constable went to the service station, which is operated on a 24-hour basis, to purchase a phone card. It is alleged that while he was inside, one of three men entered and attempted to rob the cashier.
He challenged the man, but the other two intervened. The constable was shot in the neck. His service revolver was taken by the men who fled the scene while the police seized a semiautomatic pistol which was taken from the slain robber.
The alleged robber was positively identified by a tearful female relative who visited the crime scene. The police are now working on some strong leads to apprehend the other two robbers.
